Welcome,
cherished viewers,
to this week’s edition of
Good People, Good Works,
the first in a two-part
series featuring
the Nazareth-based
non-profit organization
Al-Manarah –
Association for the
Advancement of persons
with disabilities in
the Arab Society in Israel
or “Al-Manarah” for short.

Al-Manarah provides
assistance to
approximately 6,000 blind
and visually impaired
Arabs living in Israel.
Founded in 2005
by Abbass Abbass,
Al-Manarah’s mission
is to encourage clients
to integrate themselves
into the community,
know their rights
and gain access
to governmental
resources and services.

Let’s now hear from
Mr. Abbass, the group’s
current director,
about the significance of
the name “Al-Manarah.”

Al-Manarah means
“Lighthouse” in Arabic.
We named it this name
because
we want Al-Manarah
to be the guide,
to lead the people with
visual disabilities to what
we call the “safe coast.”
Symbolically,
they are in the sea,
and they are facing many,
many, many, many
challenges, and
we want to help them
to go to the safe coast.
But in addition,
we want also to lead
the whole society,
especially the Arab society,
to see the people
with visual disabilities, to
give them the opportunity
to be included actively
in society.

To help clients empower
themselves and become
more independent,
Al-Manarah created
a phone-assistance line
in 2009.

Al-Manarah established
the phone- assistance line,
which is nationwide,
which operates
approximately 20 hours
a week, and within that
phone-assistance line,
it provides information
about the services and
the rights for the blind
and visually impaired.

I am Mahmoud Khatib
and I have
a visual impairment.
I'm the coordinator of
the Empowerment and
Developing Skills project.
Through this project,
I guide the blind
and people
with visual impairment
and their families.
I am also the coordinator
of the phone counseling
assistance line,
where I receive calls from
the blind and people with
visual impairment and
all those related to them.

The phone counseling
assistance line
by Al-Manarah
has been operating
for more than two years.
The main goal is to
receive calls from
the blind and people
with visual impairment
to inform them about their
rights they may have with
governmental institutions
and in legal proceedings.
That is, services that
they can get from
institutions as well as
the (Al-Manarah)
Association,
in addition to psychological
and social support.

In addition,
it provides what you call
“emotional support”
because many blind and
visually impaired (people)
suffer from loneliness,
stay at home,
and they need someone
to hear them, to talk to,
to relieve them
so the phone assistance is
a great medium for them.
The majority of the staff
have undergone
rehabilitation,
and they are basically
social workers.

In the first phase,
the phone line operated
for three days a week,
three hours each time.
In the second phase, it
became almost operated
seven days a week,
by extending
the number of hours.
Of course,
the social worker
receives the call, where
the dialogue lasts
about 20 minutes.
Through this call, the
person raises the problem
or asks any question.
It is a kind of dialogue;
if the person didn't get
the answer immediately,
then the social worker
registers the details
of that person
to continue the talk later.

Since the launch of
the line, one of the callers
was a girl who couldn't
get any education or even
any vocational training.
She spends most of
her time in the house
where she has no place
to go and most of
her siblings are married,
so she feels lonely.
She raised her problem
and the circumstances
she faces on the phone
and became a caller
almost on a weekly basis.
Through the phone line,
we started checking
the possibilities, where
she can go and activities
she could participate in.

Today,
this girl participates
in many activities where
she has gradually
come out of isolation
to the extent that
she comes here, to the
(Al-Manarah) Association,
where she participates
in one of its groups.
Thus, she didn't
feel lonely anymore, and
the feelings of isolation
started lessening; that is,
she has become more open
to the community,
all thanks to
our phone assistance, and
the services and activities
within the (Al-Manarah)
Association .

However,
when phone support is
not enough to address
an individual’s needs,
one-on-one help is given
at Al-Manarah.

In addition to
the phone assistance,
Al-Manarah has
developed a service,
what you would call
“personal assistance,”
so that the blind and
visually impaired can have
a face-to-face meeting
with a social worker
or psychologist and they
get emotional support
and some coaching and
some empowerment.
In individual meetings,
I get acquainted with
the person, his life and the
problems he or she faces.
Individual meetings are
a kind of treatment,
and may last for
several sessions, days,
months or even a full year.

Being visually-impaired
since childhood,
Mahmoud Khatib deeply
understands his clients’
ongoing efforts
to overcome
life’s challenges and
earnest desire to
contribute to society.

Because I am blind,
I also faced difficulties
in my life,
in various stages,
in childhood, and then
at school, in the teens,
and then as a young (person)
in the university.
I know
how the blind person
faces difficulties
and challenges
in the community, and
how the blind are trying
to build expertise
and capabilities.

So, through
my own experience
as a blind person
and my expertise
as a social worker, I see
that there is a need
to provide services and
activities which embrace
this group in trying to
work with them
in all phases and
in various aspects of life,
whether in terms of
working inside home, or
in terms of education,
skills and being involved
in society in general.
This is, as I imagine,
the goal of developing,
enabling and encouraging
the individual to be able
to help himself and be
active like everyone else
in the community.

Al-Manarah is also
producing excellent
self-help material
for its clients.

We believe
at Al-Manarah
that we don't have to
just provide services.
We have to empower
them, and let them
become self-advocates,
to know their rights.
So the first thing that
Al-Manarah has done is
produced a CD manual
of the rights and services
for the people with
visual disabilities in Israel
in Arabic language.
The (Israeli) Ministry of
Welfare heard about
this project, and
wanted to adopt it
for the Jewish people
with visual disabilities
in the Hebrew language.
So this was the first step
by Al-Manarah.

Later, Al-Manarah
established dozens
of training groups
in several issues;
first of all, empowerment
and leadership groups
for youth, for university
students, for academics
and for homebound blind.
Homebound blind
means blind people who
don't go to university.

(They) finish
their school studies and
stay at home helpless
and they don’t have any
framework to help them.
So
Al-Manarah established
several groups.
So what is very important
to emphasize is that
Al-Manarah is a
nationwide organization.
It is actually based
in Nazareth.
But it supports and
provides services
for the blind people
in Arab society
in the whole country,
from the North
to the Triangle area
in the middle of Israel
and to the South
in the Negev area, (where)
there live what you call
Bedouin Arabs.

And in addition,
Al-Manarah has founded
the first Arab Braille
and a audio library.
So in our multicenter here
we have a computer room
and Braille printer
in which we have
workshops for computing
for people
with visual disabilities.
And in addition,
we produce Braille books
for them.
So Al-Manarah is
working and has already
published or produced
many books for people
with visual disabilities.

And this year we are
planning to produce
all the school books
for the blind children
in the Arab schools.
Besides the Braille
department, we have
the recording studio.
I will tell you
my personal story,
I do like to read
many books, but how?
I haven’t studied Braille.
So how to do so?
So I purchased
many audio books.
But all of my audio books
that I study and I hear
are in English.

So at Al-Manarah,
we decided to produce
audio books in Arabic
and we are dreaming to
have this small recording
studio as a nucleus
for a huge audio library,
which can benefit
all people
with visual disabilities
in the Arab world.
In addition to producing
audio books and Braille
books, Al-Manarah
also produces large-print
books for people who
have visual impairment.

In addition,
Al-Manarah advocates
on behalf of the people
with visual disabilities.
How do we do that?
We do that through
litigation and lobbying.
For example,
Al-Manarah managed to
install audio-traffic lights
for people with visual
disabilities, for example,
in Nazareth and
some Arab villages.
In addition, Al-Manarah
is litigating on the behalf
of the people
with visual disabilities
in order to improve
accessibility for people
with visual disabilities
such as improving
pavements, roads,
buildings,
publishing information
in Braille or in audio, etc.

My dream is to see
blind people
already involved in
various aspects of life.
There are many
blind people who
reach university,
or learn and enter
supplementary courses.
But very few of them are
involved in the community,
especially
in terms of work.

My dream would be to
translate the education
and skills acquired
by the blind and people
with visual impairment
in a form of integration in
daily life at various levels,
whether in terms of
social aspects,
like participating
in social gatherings
and in family events
or in making a real
involvement in work,
meaning that institutions
must accommodate
these capabilities
and competencies.
The blind and people
with visual impairment
have these capabilities
and competencies
like everyone else.

Our heartfelt appreciation
Abbass Abbass and
Mahmoud Khatib
as well as the staff and
volunteers at Al-Manarah
for passionately helping
the blind and
visually impaired members
of your community.
It is wonderful to see
the loving encouragement
you provide
through your counseling,
equipment and facilities.
May Al-Manarah
continue its tradition of
excellence in serving
its clients and reach
many, many more of
those needing its services
in the years to come.

For more information
on Al-Manarah,
please visit
www.AlManarah.org

Please join us again
next Monday for
the second and final part
of our program
on Al-Manarah.
Thank you,
caring viewers,
for your presence
on this episode of
Good People, Good Works.
May Divine Providence
shower freedom on
each of us in the areas of
love, beauty and creativity.

In addition to training,
we also arrange
summer camps
for blind school children
because we do believe
that children
have equal rights
to enjoy all activities.

Welcome,
cordial viewers,
to this week’s edition of
Good People, Good Works,
the conclusion of a two-part
series featuring
the Nazareth-based
non-profit organization
Al-Manarah –
Association for the
Advancement of persons
with disabilities in
the Arab Society in Israel
or “Al-Manarah” for short.

Al-Manarah provides
assistance to
approximately 6,000 blind
and visually impaired
Arabs living in Israel.
Founded in 2005
by Abbass Abbass,
who currently serves
as the group’s director,
Al-Manarah’s mission
is to encourage clients
to integrate themselves
into the community,
know their rights
and gain access
to governmental
resources and services.

Last week,
we learned about some of
Al-Manarah’s laudable
initiatives such as
its phone-assistance line
for the blind.
This week we’ll learn of
other ways Al-Manarah
builds constructive
environments
for the people it serves
so these individuals
can thrive and contribute
further to society.
But first, let’s hear
from Mahmoud Khatib,
Coordinator of
Empowerment and
Developing Skills
for Al-Manarah,
about what makes this
organization unique.

The Al-Manarah
Association is almost
the only and the first of
its kind in the community.
It considers people
with visual impairments
as persons who have
real capabilities.
And it started working
with them on the issue
of rehabilitation and
the acquisition of skills
for involving themselves
in the community.
The majority of the
institutions and sectors
pay more attention to
material assistance (to them)
than the awareness
and psychological
and cultural aspects.

For developing a person
and making him integrate,
I need above all
to build him internally
by strengthening
his character and
enhancing his capabilities.
In my opinion, this is what
Al-Manarah Association
works on; that is,
self-strengthening
and self-developing
so the blind and the ones
with visual impairment
achieve independence
in spite of disability.
By independence,
one can accomplish and
achieve his objectives.

To help the blind and
visually impaired gain
confidence in themselves,
Al-Manarah incorporates
the instructional methods
of Neuro-Linguistic
Programming,
an approach to psychotherapy
that promotes
constructive thinking.

And I want to clarify
that all the training
and all the workshops
are based in what we call
NLP methodology.
NLP means
Neuro-Linguistic
Programming, which is
positive psychology.
This means that
despite the disabilities,
you have all the time
to be optimistic.
You have all the time
to find the energies to
awaken the giant within.
We do believe
that everyone, even though
he is disabled
or has a disability,
has a giant within.

But he has to
awaken this giant.
He has to
believe in his abilities,
he has to be persistent.
He has to be, over time,
full of energy to proceed.
All people have obstacles
in their way.
But they have to
overcome all the obstacles
and have the power
to overcome
all these obstacles.

Positive psychology
means that all the time
you have to look at
the full side of the cup.
You don’t have to say,
“Oh, I am disabled,
I am weak,
I can’t do anything,
I can’t see,
I have many problems.”
No, you have to say, “Okay,
I am visually disabled,
but I have the energies.
I have to challenge myself.
I have all the time
to improve my education,
to improve my skills
to be an equal member
(of society).”
And we do believe
that your behavior
depends on your feelings.
If you feel that you are good,
you’ll be good.
If you feel positively,
you’ll be positive.

To help visually impaired
children better merge into
schools and communities,
Al-Manarah leads
school workshops that
teaches sighted students
about connecting with
those with special needs.

So for the community,
we have established
a wonderful project
called, “Social
Raising Awareness.”
The Social Raising
Awareness project
includes conducting
hundreds of workshops
for students titled,
"Accepting
the Different Other."
Within the workshops,
we expose regular students
to the world
of the visually disabled
through, first of all,
theoretical activities and
through practical activities.

For example,
we start a discussion
on how they relate
when they meet a person
with a visual disability.
So after we hear from them,
we give them guidance,
the good ways
to relate to people
with visual disabilities.
On the practical part,
for example, we show them
the blind cane
and how it is a means
(to get around).
After that, we show them
the equipment; for example,
the cell phone,
the computer,
the Braille book,
in order to let them see
that we are bit different
but we have
many things in common.

We are feeling,
we are dreaming,
we are loving,
we are studying,
we have many, many
things in common.
So you should accept us
as active members
(of society),
and you should
change your attitudes.

Al-Manarah also
endeavors to help parents
better understand
their visually
impaired children.

In addition to
the school workshop,
we conduct many
seminars for parents
and for professionals.
For parents,
we conduct seminars
in order to
change the attitude
of the parents of people
with visual disabilities
toward their children.

Because many parents
or most of the parents
relate to their children
on one hand,
in what we call
an overprotective manner,
and on the other hand,
in a negligent manner
because they don't
accept them or they want
to overprotect them
because they do believe
that they are weak,
they are helpless, so
they have to protect them.

So we teach them,
within our seminars,
we give them means
of good socialization
for their children, how to
believe in their children,
how to give them the power,
to raise them
in an independent manner,
and how also to let them
enjoy their rights
and the services,
that, for example,
the state offers for them,
and also expose the parents
to the technologies that
they can give to their kids,
such as the computer,
many technologies
such as
voice-driven computers,
the Braille display,
the magnifier,
and all the machines that
can help their children
to get the best education.

Putting parents of
special needs children,
especially mothers, into
discussion groups helps
them in child-raising.
Mahmoud Khatib now
tell us more.

For example,
the Association of
Al-Manarah established
an empowerment and
skills developing group
for mothers of children
with visual impairment.
Through this group,
mothers raise the matter
of disability in full,
since they knew
that their son or daughter
was born blind,
(went) up to school
and the university
and how they got through
all these stages
in addition to the
challenges and difficulties
they faced.

All these issues are
discussed in the group,
and the group
is considered as an outlet
to express
their maternal feelings.
In such a group,
for example,
as the mothers’ group,
the common ground
between them
is that they are mothers
of children
with visual impairment,
so then the mother feels
that she is not alone
in this situation,
but there are others.

That is, it is possible to
speak about our problems,
it is possible
to speak about our pain,
it is possible to speak
about our concerns.
This (discussion)
may relieve pain
and provide support,
especially when
they are accompanied
by a professional
who has experience
and all the skills that
qualify him to be able to
deal with such conditions,
with mothers
who have children
with visual impairment.

Al-Manarah also has
other ways to help
prepare community
members to work with
the blind and visually
impaired and appreciate
this population’s
many abilities.

In addition to the seminars
for the parents,
we conduct seminars
for the professionals,
such as social workers
and teachers.
And in these seminars
we also expose them
to what we call
“human-dignity relation,”
how they should relate
to the students
and to their clients in
a human-dignity manner,
full of respect,
not just as people in need
who want services,
but first of all,
you have to respect them.
In addition, we distribute
flyers and magazines
within the seminars.

So Al-Manarah
has established
a very wonderful flyer
called,
"Be Kind to the Blind,"
in which we give
some instructions
how to relate to a blind
or visually impaired person
when you meet them;
for example, if you meet
a blind person in the street,
how you could
guide them in
a very respectful manner.

In addition,
we established
a wonderful magazine,
called “Manarat.”
Manarat means plural
of Manarah (lighthouse).
Because we do believe
that every article
in the magazine
is a lighthouse
in the world for people
with visual disabilities.
Manarat magazine
includes success stories
about people
with visual impairment;
in addition,
educational articles,
and it also covers
several activities.
And fortunately,
we have many activities
every year.

In closing, let’s again
hear from Abbass Abbass,
who has messages
for both sighted and
visually impaired people.

First of all,
I have a message
to the whole world,
to the sighted people.
Please, be more tolerant,
love each other.
Please respect each other.
And please accept
the different others.
We don’t have to be
in common in everything.
We can be in common
in some fields,
but it’s okay for us
if we are different.

Please accept
the different others
so that the nations
understand each other.
And for the people
with visual disabilities,
please, you have to
first of all
accept your disabilities,
you have to feel it.
You have to feel positive
with your disabilities.
You are not responsible
for your disabilities, so
you have to understand it
and to think that despite
that you are disabled,
you have
many, many abilities,
you have other senses.

You have to develop what
we call alternative skills.
Despite (the fact)
you don’t see,
but you hear very well,
you smell very well,
and you touch very well.
So you have to use them
and use them perfectly.
So please be optimistic,
be positive.
To be blind,
if you’re satisfied
with your blindness,
it’s a great gift.

Thank you,
Abbass Abbass and
Mahmoud Khatib and all
the other staff members
and volunteers
of Al-Manarah for
your loving assistance
to the blind and
visually impaired
in your community.
May the group’s
accomplishments and
ongoing efforts continue
to bring smiles
to the faces of those
with special visual needs.

For more information
on Al-Manarah,
please visit
www.AlManarah.org

Blessed viewers,
thank you for joining us
on this episode of
Good People, Good Works.
May we always cherish
all the beauty and
goodness in our world.